Page 54 of The Eleventh Hour
I don’t say anything, I just reach forward and hug him. “Thank you. Stay safe out there, and I hope your fortunes change.”
“You, too, Jax. You aren’t what they said you were. Get free of this town before it kills you.”
I nod tightly. “About Cherise…”
“I’ve tried calling. She isn’t answering. I’m worried, she’s never not shown up before. She always calls!”
“I’ll go see her now.”
“Good, good, you girls take care of each other. You always did. Now, be off with you. I have a lot to do before I hit the road tonight.”
I smile sadly and slip out of his office. As soon as I’m out, I sprint back to the vehicle, shouting to Dane and Rafael as I go to get back in the car. I slide into the middle of the back seat and start barking directions.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing, something. I don’t know,” I say and chew on my thumbnail. All the horrible scenes I could find go through my head. Playing again and again. When we get to the apartment building on the opposite side of town as mine, I climb out and almost gag. Déjà vu is so strong, I already know what I’m going to find.
I jog to the entrance, thrust open the glass doors, and start racing up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I can hear him crying before we even get to the floor.
“Don’t touch anything,” I warn over my shoulder.
I get to her apartment, and a man sticks his head out of the door across the hall.
“The kids been screaming up a storm. We were about ready to call the police.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I promise.
“You the friend?”
I nod.
“Good. I didn’t see nothin’.”
He pulls his head in and slams the door. I look up at her door. It’s painted cream and has a permanent marker black heart around the number 43. The paint has flaked. Everything slows down. I can smell booze, someone cooking curry, Dane’s cedar scent behind me.
It speeds up again when I slam my boot against the door and kick my way through it. Nothing is wrong. Everything is how it normally is, clean and tidy. There is no body. No blood. Nothing I feared, and yet, it’s somehow worse. I move to the bedrooms, noting absently that her apartment is the exact same layout as mine. In the master is the cot and the source of the screaming.
I pick him up and hold him to me, and then move and start getting him changed.
Dane disappears, and I wonder if it’s the smell that bothers him or the screaming. I get the baby completely changed and dry and lift him into my arms when Dane appears again with a bowl of food and a bottle.
The kid almost lunges out of my arms to get to the bottle.
“Guys, this is Zair,” I say quietly and try not to cry.
Dane smiles and wiggles a finger at Zair. “Hi, Zair bear.”
The kid smiles but doesn’t stop drinking.
“Want to explain?”
I shake my head. “Not here. We need to get him safe, like, gone safe.”
Dane nods tightly and leaves the room again. When Zair finishes the bottle, I start feeding him the bowl of food. Rafael moves around the room quietly but with purpose. It takes me a minute to realise he’s packing things up.
I open the drawer, pull out a small photo album, and pass it to him. He flicks through it, and his face tightens. He puts it in the bag.
“Zair has some medications. Can you grab them, too?”’